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Campaigners urge everyone sympathetic to the Welsh language not to back 'anti-Welsh' Reform UK
Martin Shipton
A campaign group has warned Welsh speakers and those sympathetic to the language to think seriously before voting for Reform UK after one of the right-wing party’s senior figures said protecting Welsh was not a priority for it.
Dyfodol i r Iaith [Future for the Language] has expressed strong opposition to comments made by Llŷr Powell, Reform UK's former head of communications in Wales, on the S4C Newyddion programme.
Mr Powell noted that protecting Welsh culture in the strongholds of the language was not a priority. Immigration is a prominent issue for Reform UK supporters, with the party saying it wants to "protect the identity of Britain and its communities".
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Welsh strongholds
But Mr Powell said that protecting Welsh culture was not high on Reform’s agenda, and that immigration in strongholds of the Welsh language like the Llŷn peninsula was not a problem.
Dylan Bryn Roberts, chief executive of Dyfodol i’r Iaith said, "We oppose these comments strongly. They prove that Reform UK is an English right-wing party that places absolute emphasis on Englishness at the expense of the Welsh language.
“As someone who grew up and lives in Nefyn in Llŷn, I know very well that the effect of a constant and numerous influx of residents from across the border is destroying the fabric of Llŷn's natural Welsh communities. Surveys have identified many people who cherish an English and British identity and this is bound to erode and destroy Welsh identity, with a very low proportion of them (approximately 25% in Gwynedd according to the 2011 Census) learning the Welsh language after moving to Wales.
“The language shift is a growing reality in communities that are naturally Welsh. If we don't see intensive intervention soon we will have lost these indigenous Welsh communities forever. We know how key such communities are to the future of Wales but most are now limited to the counties of Gwynedd and central Anglesey only.
“We need the next Welsh Government, of whatever party or parties, to prioritise the future of Welsh communities before the decline reaches a point where the situation cannot be retrieved. “Welsh Labour has been complacent since the publication of a report by the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities in August 2024.”
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'Disrespect'
Mr Roberts continued: “Dyfodol i’r Iaith is calling on every individual in Wales who speaks, learns or is sympathetic to the Welsh language to think seriously before casting a vote for Reform UK, which has shown such disrespect towards the oldest native language of the British Isles.
“There is no doubt that a Reform UK government in Wales would be destructive to the future of the Welsh language, to devolution and to our values as a nation.
"It is necessary to be very vigilant about the effect of casting a protest vote or not casting a vote at all. Although Dyfodol i’r Iaith is a non-partisan lobbying group, we stand firmly against any anti-Welsh and anti-Welsh policies.
“We would welcome Reform UK representatives contacting us.”
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